Filled with Thankfulness

As eager as we are to begin a new season of life in Moldova, we did very much enjoy the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving with our family last week. We are thankful to God for each of you who read these updates, pray for us, and sacrifice financially as we work towards raising our support.

Over the past month, Brandi ran a 5K race in which she placed 9th (out of more than 50 runners) in her age group, and Judah has started practice for the elementary basketball team at Grace Academy. Asher also finished up a football season playing for a local rec team. We are grateful for the health God has given our family to participate in these physical activities and to use them as a way to interact with others.

Our youth ministry conducted a weekend retreat, in which 34 people participated. Four other youth leaders and I shared the teaching responsibilities that weekend, and we discussed the themes of God’s holiness, man’s depravity, how the gospel reconciles the two, and the progress of sanctification that continues until we are with the Lord. In addition, I have continued to teach a high school Sunday school class on the local church, and to teach through the book of Isaiah to our students on Wednesday nights.

I have built a friendship with a man who works at a local restaurant where I eat lunch about once a week. He is a nominal Catholic, but a few days ago I gave him a copy of John’s gospel which he promised to read, and I invited him to church, and he said he will attend soon. He typically wears a crucifix, and I asked him if he really believed that Jesus died a cross. He said he wasn’t sure. I told him that some, including me, believe that Jesus not only died on a cross but that he came back to life. He seemed surprised at that. Pray for God to save him and use him to reach others also.

Though we have not seen a dramatic increase in support this month, I have had a few encouraging interactions with some local pastors about the possibility of presenting at their churches in coming months. Pray that we will be able to finalize meetings at these and other places, and that through the meetings we will see churches and individuals partner with us financially. Pray also that some who have made verbal commitments will follow through with giving.

I am also hoping to take some young adults to the Cross Conference in Louisville, KY in early January. Cross is a missions conference specifically designed for college students who are either pursuing full-time missions or who want to learn more about how their careers can be used to make much of God globally. Pray that we will be able to take this trip and that through it God will call some of these students to serve him full-time cross-culturally and that he will enable the rest to give so that the others can go.

That’s enough for now. Please continue to pray regularly for us, for those we will serve in Moldova, and for our home church, Grace Baptist. Please let us know how we can pray for you as well.

Author: David Prairie

Husband. Father. International Theological Education for Live Global and ABWE. Doctoral Graduate from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Twitter user: @DavidPrairie View all posts by David Prairie